Olive Oakes

Olive Martin Oakes was married to DC Oakes. She was a hardy pioneer woman in her own right. She wrote a number of letters home, most of which survive to this day and tell us a great deal about pioneer life. She was very close friends with Sarah Coberly and the two lived near each other both in Huntsville and later in Denver.

In this picture, Olive is seen at Huntsville sometime before her death in 1919 (probably 1914). She was brought here by the Colorado Historical Society to point out the location of various sites in Huntsville. Here she is standing at the location of Fort Lincoln (see the Fort Lincoln point of interest for its exact location).

Olive had eight children, all girls. Only two of them survived to adulthood. One, Emma, later died in childbirth. The other, Laura, had one child, Hazel Oakes Bennet Red Cloud. Both of these sisters married brothers from the bennet family.